Lack of IT students puts future at risk

Some things, unfortunately, never seem to change.

Yet again, the number of UK schoolchildren studying IT or for computing exams fell this year, even though we have undoubtedly the most technology-friendly teenage generation ever.
But we are not alone ­ Intel chairman Craig Barrett last week bemoaned the state of technology education in the US. Barrett pointed out that in fast-emerging economies such as China and India, there is a premium on engineering and technology teaching, and a student enthusiasm unmatched in the West.

Many in the IT industry say the problem comes from a lack of computing teachers, rather than the attitudes of children. For any subject, the enthusiasm and motivation of the teacher is key to students’ success ­- and there is a widely held perception that there are simply not enough IT teachers with the ability to enthuse their class.

In how many schools is the computing teacher an expert in another subject, such as maths, corralled into taking the IT class?

The difficulty is that this is a tomorrow problem for a today-obsessed government. The knock-on effect of a lack of technology education now will not hit home for another decade at least. In the short term, there is little chance that the target of 140,000 new entrants into the IT profession every year for the next five years will be met ­- and the UK’s technological capability will suffer.

There are, unfortunately, no immediate solutions ­ but we need a concerted effort from government and the IT profession to reverse the continuing decline in student numbers.

* - Article from www.computing.co.uk

It seems a strange that in an Industry where there are above average salaries on offer we cannot attract enough students. Maybe the image of IT being boring and IT professionals being social stunted needs to be addressed (May i point out that i don't conform to these views). Yes, there aren't many jobs in the world that people actually get up and do a little jig of delight because they are off to work. However, IT does offer variety and with its large amount of project work it has aims, acheivements and therefore satisfaction on offer in abundance.